The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

Loading Recent Classifieds...

Tree dedication ceremony held in honor of slain Bucks student

Tree+dedication+ceremony+held+in+honor+of+slain+Bucks+student

A tree-dedication ceremony was held on June 12 in memory of Jacob Simmers, a 19-year-old student at Bucks who was fatally stabbed in March, allegedly by one of his friends, Joseph Romano.

Simmers was known for being a source of everyone’s happiness. Down to his last seconds, he still cared immensely about his friends. At the ceremony held in front of Penn Hall at Bucks, it was clear that his friends and professors cared just as much about him.

Although it was raining, a crowd of professors who taught—and even some who didn’t—Simmers formed outside of Penn Hall in order to show their respects. A group of Simmer’s friends, including his girlfriend, Brittany Snyder, arrived at the service in formal attire. Some came equipped with umbrellas, but even those who didn’t did not seem to mind the rain at all.

A plaque at the foot of the tree read, “In memory of Jacob R. Simmers, RIP 1994-2014.” Those present gathered in a circle and offered their thoughts and comments about Simmers.

“The world will be much less of a place now, without him” said Snyder’s father, Keith Simmers.

“I hardly knew him,” Paige Bartheld admitted, “but whenever I came across him, I could always expect to see a smile. A friendly face.  No one ever said anything negative about him to me, ever. It just goes to show that someone like that just didn’t deserve to go this young.”

“There ceremony may not be large, but it’s enough,” Jeri Elizabeth said. “What’s important isn’t the size of the group that shows up, or how many words are said. What matters is that the people who did come understand the loss the world has just had. It seems like the weather fits the situation fairly well, with the rain and all.”

Language and Literature Professor Keri Barber organized efforts to raise money for the plaque.

According to the Bensalem Police Department, on March 30 at approximately 2:30 a.m., police responded to a report of a stabbing at Romano’s home on the 1100 block of Kasmir Avenue in Bensalem Township.

Police arrived to find Simmers dead from an apparent stab wound to the upper body.  Romano, who was at the residence, was arrested without incident.

Earlier stories: Bucks student’s loving legacy is remembered

Hearing set for man suspected in slaying of former Bucks student